A light emitting diode (LED), a semiconductor light emitting device, is a photoelectric device capable of generating various colors of light through the recombination of electrons and holes at a p-n junction by using p-n junction structure characteristics. That is, when a forward directional voltage is applied to a specific element of a semiconductor, electrons and holes are recombined while the electrons and holes move through a junction between an anode and a cathode. Since an amount of energy in the recombined electrons and holes is smaller than an amount of energy in electrons and holes separated from one another, light is emitted to the outside of the LED due to the energy difference.
The device as described above may be provided in a state in which a growth substrate used for the growth of a semiconductor layer has been removed in order to secure a wide light emitting region and allow current applied thereto to flow uniformly throughout the overall region of the device, or the like. In order to remove a growth substrate, a method in which a support substrate is attached to a light emitting structure and a laser beam or the like is then irradiated thereonto is used. In this process, a large amount of stress acts on the light emitting structure, caused due to differences in thermal expansion coefficients between the growth substrate, a semiconductor layer and the support substrate. As such, a defect, e.g., cracks, may occur due to the stress acting on the semiconductor layer in the process of removing the growth substrate. Thus, light emission efficiency in the device may be degraded. In particular, this defect may further increase as the size of a wafer increases. Accordingly, research on a scheme for significantly reducing an influence of a difference in thermal expansion coefficients when a growth substrate is eliminated in the art has been under way.